Julian meets East Anglia’s best young bricklayer Celebrating Apprenticeships

Apprentice, Shaun Bartram, the best young bricklayer in East Anglia, has landed an enviable job working on Cambridge’s oldest college.

Shaun, 19, who was named regional junior champion in the SkillBuild competition at the NEC Birmingham, is helping to sympathetically extend part of the student accommodation at Peterhouse.

Apprentice, Shaun Bartram, the best young bricklayer in East Anglia, has landed an enviable job working on Cambridge’s oldest college.

Shaun, 19, who was named regional junior champion in the SkillBuild competition at the NEC Birmingham, is helping to sympathetically extend part of the student accommodation at Peterhouse.

And today (Monday, September 29) he met Cambridge MP Julian Huppert who went along to the college to find out more about Shaun’s job as part of his monthly initiative Celebrating Apprenticeships.

Shaun, who is employed by Anglian Brickwork in conjunction with Cambridge Regional College, is working on Gisborne Court, extending it in the original style of the building which was constructed in 1825. But Peterhouse itself, the smallest of Cambridge University’s colleges, was built in 1284.

Shaun, who completed a three year Level 3 bricklaying diploma at CRC before starting his apprenticeship said: “I had been working with my dad as a landscape gardener and realised how much I enjoyed doing the brickwork and wanted to get more involved.

“My tutor told me Anglian Brickworks were looking for an apprentice. Now I want to move up through the company and maybe one day run my own team.”

Shaun’s boss, Ian Wilson said he is “testament to youth, being a self-disciplined and motivated young man who is strong in character and eagerness to fulfil his enormous potential”.

“He very quickly gained the respect of his peers and is a well-balanced individual who reflects sound values instilled in him by a well-rounded family,” he said. “We feel that Shaun is the young artisan that will go far.

“Well done Cambridge Regional College for identifying and cultivating his ‘raw’ potential; he is already earning a great reputation with our clients and fellow craftsmen.”

Julian said: “Shaun is an absolute inspiration. He has a real love for his work and has made the most of the opportunities open to him.

“He has an enviable task working on such an historic building which is so important to Cambridge’s heritage. His work will retain the historic look of Peterhouse while providing accommodation for future generations of students studying in our city.”

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